Micky Flanagan
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Michael John Flanagan (born 7 October 1962) is an English
comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
. Flanagan has performed at the
Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
and toured Britain with
stand-up Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...
shows. He presented ''Micky Flanagan: What Chance Change?'' for Radio 4 and has appeared on various TV shows including ''
Mock the Week ''Mock the Week'' is a British topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. The programme was present ...
'', ''
A League of Their Own ''A League of Their Own'' is a 1992 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Penny Marshall that tells a fictionalized account of the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The film stars Tom Hanks, Geena Dav ...
'', ''
8 Out of 10 Cats ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' is a British comedy panel show broadcast on Channel 4 and its sister networks, airing since 3 June 2005. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr; the current team captains are Rob Beckett and Katherine Ryan. The show is based on ...
'', '' Was It Something I Said?'', ''
Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow ''Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow'' is a British stand-up comedy television series hosted by comedian Michael McIntyre from different venues around the United Kingdom and Ireland. The first series was broadcast with six episodes in 2009. Each ...
'' and '' I Love My Country''.


Early life and career

Flanagan was born in
Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...
, East London, and grew up in
Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...
. His father, Jim Flanagan, worked as a welder and latterly as a fish porter.Micky Flanagan, Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4 (Nov 2017) His father was involved in petty crime, and served a short prison sentence as a result. Flanagan was a sensitive and thoughtful child, and keen to leave the East End of London. At the age of thirteen, he joined the Young Socialists. Flanagan was a bright student, but became disengaged with schoolwork, and began to skive classes. He left school at the age of fifteen with no qualifications. Through his father, he got his first job as a fish porter at
Billingsgate Fish Market Billingsgate Fish Market is located in Canary Wharf in London. It is the United Kingdom's largest inland fish market. It takes its name from Billingsgate, a ward in the south-east corner of the City of London, where the riverside market was origi ...
. The work was well-paid, but Flanagan became disengaged with the job. In 1981, he spent the summer on
Fire Island Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York. Occasionally, the name is used to refer collectively to not only the central island, but also Long ...
, New York, where he worked as a
kitchen porter (, "kitchen brigade") is a system of hierarchy found in restaurants and hotels employing extensive staff, commonly referred to as "kitchen staff" in English-speaking countries. The concept was developed by Georges Auguste Escoffier (1846–1935) ...
. Flanagan returned to London and worked as a furniture maker for several years. His business failed and he returned to Fire Island for another summer. Flanagan resumed education at the age of 25, beginning with a
GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
in English and going on to a foundation course in Arts and Social Sciences and a degree at City University, which he began aged 29. Flanagan went on to train as a teacher by taking the
Postgraduate Certificate in Education The Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE/PGCertEd) is a one- or two-year higher education course in England, Wales and Northern Ireland which provides training in order to allow graduates to become teachers within maintained schools. In ...
, but decided not to pursue teaching as a career, later describing the experience as "the unhappiest year of my life ... everything that was wrong about the school system when I was young was still the same".


Comedy career

Flanagan became a professional comedian in 1997 after attending a comedy course at
Jacksons Lane Jacksons Lane Arts Centre (JLAC) is a multi-arts venue in Highgate, north London, located in a Grade II listed former Wesleyan Methodist church. The building is home to a 170 capacity theatre, a large scale dance and rehearsal studio, a cafe-bar ...
in 1996. His earliest comedy gigs were unpaid, so he worked as a painter and decorator during this time. He mined his upbringing for early comic material. In 2001 he performed in the ''Big Value Comedy Show'' at the Edinburgh Fringe as one of four headline acts, and in 2003 co-headlined a show with
Nina Conti Nina Margarita Conti (born 25 August 1973) is a British actress, comedian, and ventriloquist. Early life Conti was born and raised in Hampstead, London, the daughter of actors Tom Conti and Kara Wilson. She attended King Alfred School, Londo ...
. He performed his first full-length solo show, ''What Chance Change?'' in 2006, and in 2007 was nominated for Best Newcomer at the
Edinburgh Comedy Awards The Dave (TV channel), Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival ...
. He toured Great Britain with ''The Out Out Tour'' in 2010/2011. Flanagan was a regular performer on ''Out to Lunch'' on Radio 2 in 2008, and appeared on ''
Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow ''Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow'' is a British stand-up comedy television series hosted by comedian Michael McIntyre from different venues around the United Kingdom and Ireland. The first series was broadcast with six episodes in 2009. Each ...
'' in 2009. In 2010 he presented a four-part series for Radio 4 entitled ''Micky Flanagan: What Chance Change?'', and performed on '' Live at the Apollo'', ''
Stand Up for the Week ''Stand Up for the Week'' is a British television comedy series that was shown on Channel 4, featuring stand-up comedy performances reflecting topical events. The show began in June 2010 with a six-episode series aired on Friday nights, moving t ...
'' and the
Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...
. He appeared on ''
Mock the Week ''Mock the Week'' is a British topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. The programme was present ...
'' in 2010 and made further appearances in 2011. He was a panellist on the BBC1 game show ''
Epic Win ''Epic Win'' is a British game show that aired on BBC One from 20 August to 24 September 2011 and was hosted by Alexander Armstrong. Format In the programme, contestants complete individual challenges such as trying to dress whilst bouncing a foo ...
'', which was broadcast in August and September 2011. In 2009, Flanagan's agent lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority claiming that a television commercial for directory enquiries service 118 118 was using his "out out" catchphrase and skit. The skit, performed on ''Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow'', is based on the idea that people have different levels of going out, with "out out" referring to a big night out. The commercial featured an animated character using the phrase in a nightclub setting. The ASA acknowledged the similarity but said it was beyond its remit to take action. In 2011 Flanagan signed a deal with
Ebury Publishing Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Century ...
to write his
autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
. He appeared in a celebrity version of '' The Chase'', hosted by
Bradley Walsh Bradley John Walsh (born 4 June 1960) is an English actor, comedian, singer, television presenter, and former professional footballer. Walsh is known for his roles as Danny Baldwin in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2004–2006), as ...
. In 2012 he starred alongside
Mark Watson Mark Andrew Watson (born 13 February 1980) is a British comedian and novelist. Early life Watson was born in Bristol to a Welsh mother and English father. He has younger twin sisters and a brother, Paul. He attended Bristol Grammar School, wh ...
and host
Mark Dolan Mark Dolan (born 17 March 1974) is an English comedian, writer, and presenter. He currently hosts ''Mark Dolan Tonight'' on GB News. He was the host of '' Balls of Steel'' from 2005 until 2008 on Channel 4. Early life Dolan attended University ...
as a captain on the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
advertising-based comedy panel programme ''
The Mad Bad Ad Show ''The Mad Bad Ad Show'' is a British comedy panel show made by Objective Productions and hosted by Mark Dolan. It aired for one season on Channel 4 in 2012. Format The premise of the show is based around answering questions about and related to a ...
''. On 7 June 2013, he appeared on ''
The Graham Norton Show ''The Graham Norton Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Graham Norton. It was initially broadcast on BBC Two, from 22 February 2007, before moving to BBC One in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton s ...
'' alongside
Dan Stevens Daniel Jonathan Stevens (born 10 October 1982) is a British actor and writer. He first drew international attention for his role as Matthew Crawley in the ITV acclaimed period drama series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2012). He also starred as D ...
,
Hayden Panettiere Hayden Lesley Panettiere (; born August 21, 1989) is an American actress, model, and singer. She is best known for her lead roles as Claire Bennet on the NBC superhero series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'' and Juliette Barnes in the Am ...
,
Robin Thicke Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 hit single " Blurred Lines", which is one of the best-selling singles of all time. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, h ...
and
Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...
. He was a team captain, alongside
Frank Skinner Christopher Graham Collins (born 28 January 1957), professionally known as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His televisio ...
on the
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
comedy series '' I Love My Country'', which is hosted by
Gabby Logan Gabrielle Nicole Logan (''née'' Yorath; born 24 April 1973) is a Welsh presenter and a former international rhythmic gymnast who represented Wales and Great Britain. She hosted ''Final Score'' for BBC Sport from 2009 until 2013. She has also p ...
. Additionally, he was a team captain on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
comedy panel show '' Was It Something I Said?.'' In 2015 he took a year off, citing pressure and a need to process. Micky's sell-out tour (and DVD) 'An Another Fing...' was the biggest comedy event of 2017 playing to over 600,000 people across the UK and Ireland, breaking box office records up and down the country. The DVD was recorded live at The O2 and Micky updated fans on 'where he is at' following his 'gap year'. The Evening Standard described it as 'Comedy Par Excellence' and The Guardian stated 'he's the country's most popular comic and, by some measure, its most popular entertainer full stop'. The 'An another fing' tour included 11 sold out nights at the London O2.


Personal life

Flanagan and his wife, Cathy, have one son. They live in
East Dulwich East Dulwich is an area of South East London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. It forms the eastern part of Dulwich, with Peckham to the east and Camberwell to the north. This South London suburb was first developed in the nineteen ...
.


Stand-up DVDs


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, Micky 1962 births Alumni of City, University of London Comedians from London English male comedians English stand-up comedians English people of Irish descent Living people People from Bethnal Green People from Whitechapel 20th-century English comedians 21st-century English comedians